LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Shelf .iK.it 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



T 

ETHEREAL MATTER, 



ELECTRICITY and AKASA, 



V 

N. KOLKIN. 



Contents : A New Device for the Detection of Different Conditions 

of Ethereal Matter and Akasa; Apparent Composition of Cosmic 

Ether; Something New About Electricity ; Something 

New About the Human Organism ; Lines of Akasa 

or Supposed Organs of the Soul; Psychical 

Transmission of Ideas to a Distance ; 

and Occult Tricks. 




PKICE, ,r>0 CENTS 



N J 



FOR SALE BY 

THE J. M. PINCKNEY BOOK AND STATIONERY CO. 
1 1 \ Fourth Street, Sioi \ City, [ow \. 

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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, by Nils Kolkin, in the office of 
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PREFACE. 

The present volume contains popular extracts of "Electric- 
ity as a form of Ethereal Matter*' by the same author with a 
treatise on akasa added. The last named work has been widely 
advertised, but has not yet been published. It must be kept 
in mind that it is the result of original researches, all under- 
taken in the Territory of Dakota, and researches of consider- 
able magnitude. 



PAET I. 

MUTUAL INTERCHANGE OF LIGHT, HEAT AND ELECTRICITY ON ONE 

HAND AND COSMIC ETHER ON THE OTHER. 

SECTION I. 

NOTIONS OF MATTER. 

It is generally believed that there exists a subtle kind of 
matter which pervades all nature and is found in solids, liquids 
and gases both in space and in all higher or lower vacua, This 
form of matter, the existence of which lias been inferred from 
different phenomena, has been called imponderable, as it is be- 
lieved to have no weight or could not be weighed. It has also 
been called ether or rather, cosmic ether to distinguish it from 
a liquid substance of the same name. 

It seems as if this ether has, generally, been considered to 
be a simple and uniform fluid. A somewhatmore unreasonable 
theory has lately been worked out by Sir William Thompson 
and others, who consider it to be an elastic solid which fills 
the whole universe, and who try to illustrate all physical 
phenomena by the vibrations of an elastic solid. It may be 
remarked that this theory was held to be orthodox in Sir Wil- 
liam Thompson's time. 

In physical research, the guiding theory is of great impor- 
tance. Many forces in nature have not been utilized, or have 
become only partially known on account of incorrect theories. 
A correct view of that which is not yet perfectly known can 
most safely he obtained by conclusions drawn from that which 
is well known. What is our notion of matter? We think of 
matter as something that occupies Space and, where it occu- 
pies space, excludes everything else which may he called mat- 
ter. If cosmic ether be matter, it can not exist in the same 



space that is occupied by an atom of coarser matter. If ether 

be found in the interior of a solid, it can be found only in the 
interstices between the atoms or molecules. When we look at 
the visible nature, we do not find that matter is uniform. It 
lias from the very beginning appeared to us as multiform. 
With what right can we throw away any of our knowledge of 
master, when we are to form a theory of a division of the same , 
that has only been thought to exist, but has not been known^ 
Visible matter consists of elements and compounds of them, 
and this can be said of that which is partly visible, as the 
gases. Why should not this be true of cosmic ether? Analo- 
gous theories must be used for that which is analogous, is the 
rule. We can formulate the theory blindfolded, that ethereal 
matter consists of elements and compounds thereof, as surely 
as it can be called matter. The burden of proof does not rest 
on one who follows this law of analogy. 

The field of the unknown was boldly entered on by Sir 
Isaac Newton, a man ahead of his time. He succeeded in 
seperating white light into its different component elements by 
letting it pass through a wedge of glass, or what is now gen- 
erally called a prism. His theory was that light was matter. 
and that the different colors, into which light dissolved itself. 
were different kinds of matter. This theory was too much for 
his time and was not accepted. Indisputable proofs were 
needed to give confidence in his theories at that time. Such 
proofs presented themselves in the case of his theory of gravi- 
tation; but his theory of light had to yield place to some more 
unnatural ones, studied out by book-learned men that lacked 
his scrutinizing observation and reasoning power. 

We are now able to prove the correctness of Xewton's 
theory, and, as this answers many questions in regard to the 
production of electricity, we shall give a systematic exposition 
of the relation which exists between light, heat, electricity, and 
other phenomena of ethereal matter. 



Ethereal matter appears to serve as the binding material 
or cement, so to speak, which holds the minute parts of coarser 
matter together, so that they form gaseous, liquid, or solid 
bodies. In this case, it exists in the form of ethereal com- 
pounds, consisting of different elements which are, more or 
less, liberated by the decomposition of the coarser substance. 
The ethereal elements are nothing but the different elements 
that produce light and heat. Electricity, of which there are 
two kinds, is considered a fluid even by orthodox physicists, 
and these two kinds are different compounds of certain ethereal 
elements. While electricity resembles a fluid, other ethereal 
compounds form more coherent masses, as is indicated by 
astatic pendulums, and can not be called fluids. 

Akasa appears as a coarser state of matter than electricity. 
It is not known to have been detected except in connection 
with animal bodies, though it exists, without doubt, as an in- 
visible part of a vegetable. It is also believed that akasa is 
the soul that governs the different growths and formations in 
the so-called "inorganic" world, as the formations of crvstals. 



SECTION II. 

3*XAl$iS OF DETECTING FEEBLE FORCES IN NATURE. 

While some physicists hold that ethereal matter is an im- 
ponderable fluid, pervading all nature, others seem to be of 
the opinion that it is only a rarified gas; at least, they speak in 
that way. Whatever theory be correct, we can show that there 
are currents of some kind of matter in the atmosphere, when 
the air does not partake of the same motion, which last may be 
shown by clouds of smoke. That these manifestations are 
currents, we know, because they, in all respects, behave like 
currents. There can not be a current without some kind of 
matter that flows. To say that we can not be sure that there 
is anything, as long as we see nothing, which has often been 
said about electricity, is untenable. There are certain safe 
rules for drawing conclusions within certain limits, which only 
the ignorant will think of disputing. To explain these rules 
belongs to a practical treatise on logic. We may state that 
this supposed matter can not be detected, except when it is in 
motion. 

This matter, which may have a motion independent of 
that of the air which it pervades, is what has been called 
ethereal matter in this work. This matter we naturally sup- 
pose to be lighter than the air in which w r e experiment and, on 
account of its lightness, we can not expect to observe its 
motions as easily as we would motions of air. A current of 
air could be shown by the deflection of a light body, as a 
feather or a streamer; but any deflection of the lightest body 
could not be expected to be effected by motions of ethereal 
matter, before the inertia of the body were overcome. 

We will call the attention of the reader to the fact, that 



9 

it is customary in physical experiments, when the effect of very 
slight forces on very light bodies is to be shown, to overcome 
the inertia of those bodies. An electric current, passing over 
a wire, has a magnetic action, but a very slight one. To show 
it, a hole is bored through a glass plate and up through this 
the conductor is drawn, while iron tilings are spread over the 
plate. An electric current through the wire will have a mag- 
netic action on the iron tilings; but the force will be too feeble 
to start them, before their inertia is overcome by thumping 
the glass plate with the fingers, when the iron filings will move 
toward the wire. Another example may be given. If a 
plumb line be suspended over a sluggish current of water, so 
that the plumb dips into it, it will be found that the current 
can not move the plumb line, before its inertia is overcome by 
vibration of i f s support. It will then oscillate back and forth 
in the direction of the current. 

Is it possible, by overcoming the inertia of a light pendu- 
lum consisting of a fiber with a suitable weight, to observe 
currents of invisible matter that pervades the air and is yet, to 
some extent, independent of it? It must be done in this way, 
if in any. There are many difficulties in the way; but it can be 
done. The reasons why it has not been noticed more generally 
are probably two: a general belief in some mystic attraction or 
repulsion, where the motions of light bodies can not be ex- 
plained in an ordinary way, and the fact that the existence of a 
current can be ascertained only by observations at different 
points. We may here remind the reader of frequent discus- 
sions touching the cause of the peculiar motions of pendulums 
hold by the hand. The inertia of a pendulum will be over- 
come by the trembling of the hand; but as in this case, there 
may be a greater, though inconscious, movement of the hand 
in one direction, the oscillation of the pendulum can not be 
depended on. However, it has been shown that a person may 
be so unbiased that no inconscious muscular action takes place, 



10 

except a uniform trembling of the hand, which consists of 
motions in all possible directions. The oscillation of the pen- 
dulum is then determined by forces outside of the hand, either 
by motions of air or by currents of invisible matter pervading 
the air If the air be in motion, dust or a cloud of smoke will 
show this. The method of testing the reliability of such ex- 
periments consists in producing currents or vortices of supposed 
ethereal matter without the knowledge of theexp?rimenter and 
letting him detect them. A more reliable way of overcoming 
the inertia of the pendulum i. , however, desirable. We shall 
mention several more or less perfect means of doing this. 

Before we go further, we must mention that the atmos- 
phere may be in two different conditions; one in which motions 
of ethereal matter may be detected with more or less ease, and 
another in which tliey can not be detected, and a pendulum, 
suspended from a vibrating support tends to hang still. The 
atmospheie is more frequently in such a condition that motions 
of ethereal matter can not be detected, than otherwise. This is 
another reason why we, for many years to come, must expect 
to hear the detection of motions of ethereal matter spoken of 
as humbug; for. very perfect instruments for registration are 
not likely to be made soon, as there are no pecuniary induce- 
ments. 

A pendulum, suspended from a generally vibrating support, 
has a tendency to hang still, when the atmosphere is cloudy, 
moist and cold, or sultry in the summertime. This is also the 
case in the dark and also in deep shadows. A current may be 
detected where it enters and leaves a shadow, but not in the 
shadow itself, when it is deep. If such unfavorable conditions 
of the atmosphere are not very serious, they can be neutralized 
by heat, light, strong odors, or the friction of certain sub- 
stances; but, in extreme cases, neutralization is effected only by 
a large flame or fire. When the barometer is low, the atmos- 
phere is unfavorable. As it rises, favorable moments occur at 



11 

regular intervals, and these favorable periods become longer, 
as it continues to rise, until the unfavorable periods have 
dwindled down to nothing. 

Akasa also prevents the detection of currents of ethereal 
matter, as it is coarser and has more effect on a pendulum. 
Akasa may be freed from its connection with the body by 
stroking something; but it is more apt to prevent experiments 
when it emanates directly from the body, which happens dur- 
ing excitement or curiosity. It has either a movement of its 
own, which may be detected in the most unfavorable atmos- 
phere, or it prevents the detection of any currents. On ac- 
count of the mischief done by movements of akasa, it is im- 
possible to undertake experiments in the presence of people, 
except they are devoid of curiosity and entirely self contained. 
A mechanical pendulum instrument will be just as much 
affected as the most unscientific device. 

When the atmosphere is favorable, a pendulum, consist- 
ing of a fiber or string with a suitable weight or knob of any 
material or shape, as a watch key or a plumb, will indicate 
movements of what we have called ethereal akasa or matter, if 
the inertia of the knob be properly overcome by vibration of 
its support. Inertia has two components, a horizontal and a 
vertical one. Both these should be overcome or neutralized, 
and care should be taken that no greater impetus be given to 
the pendulum in one direction than in others. This is, ot 
course, best effected by accurate mechanism. When the in- 
ertia of a pendulum is properly overcome, it may be said to be 
astaticized or rendered astatic. 

As those who wish to undertake experiments will find so 
many difficulties in their way that they are apt to give it up in 
disgust, we will mention several methods of rendering pendu- 
lums partially astatic. It will be noticed that such bodies as 
wooden balls or birds, suspended by elastic strings inside of 
glass cases, have some peculiar motions. Such pendulums are 



12 



partially astatic and have the same general motion as more 
perfectly astaticized pendulums. Small pendulums suspended 
from larger ones, as from chandeliers, are partially astaticized. 
If the smaller pendulum contains an elastic string, the vertical 
component of inertia is also overcome. Glass penduncles 
that are found on some chandeliers behave in a peculiar man- 
ner. They hang still, except a few. and they all -wing by 
turn. 

What we have called motions of ethereal matter seems to 
be nothing else than what is, generally, called electric currents. 
During storms there are such currents in the direction of the 
storm: but a wire, laid in that direction, collects a stronger cur- 
rent around the wire than in the air generally, which is also the 
case with ethereal motions or currents, artificially produced in 
the air. Such general currents through the atmosphere nearly 
always commence and end respectively before the storm does, 
and make experiments on artificial or smaller currents im- 
possible. 

If we place two plates, respectively of zinc and copper 
and both moistened with sulphuric or other acid, a distance 
apart so that they face each other, there will be an electric cur- 
rent, through the air, from the zinc to the copper and an astatic 
pendulum will oscillate in that direction, when placed in the 
current, if the atmosphere be favorable. If the distance be- 
tween the plates is great enough, a deep shadow may be pro- 
duced half way between them, and there it will be found that 
no current is indicated. 

When an electric current is sent over a wire, it swells to 
a certain distance outside of the wire. This may also be ob- 
served by means of an astatic pendulum; but it must be so 
short that it is nearly entirely within the current. In fact, 
these pendulums should always be short. Electric charges, 
though they be very slight, may also be detected by the same 
means, as they always swell into the air and rotate around an 



1° 

axis which is paralell to that of the earth, for which reason an 
astatic pendulum will circulate around when over the center of 
the charge. This, however, depends on the latitude of the 
place where the experiments are made. 

To find toward what direction the current flows, is not 
always possible by the method described, though a pendulum 
is thrown a trifle farther in that direction. We must, here, 
describe another way of detecting electric currents in the air. 
This is by means of pendulums, suspended from a steady sup- 
port, care being taken that they hang from a smooth surface or^ 
that there are no obstacles on any side. When they are put in 
oscillation, the direction of the oscillation changes gradually, 
until it coincides with that of the current. But the atmosphere 
must be favorable, or else it keeps its original direction. This 
swinging pendulum should also be short. 

All currents are stronger at the center than at the sides or 
at the periphery. If a fixed pendulum be suspended in one 
side of an electric current, which is entirely in the air or is 
swelling outside of a conductor, and then put in oscillation at 
right angles with the current, the stronger force of the current 
at the center will push the pendulum steadily in one direction, 
which produces a gradual change in the oscillation. The way 
the pendulum turns indicates toward what point the current 

flows. 

The atmosphere is favorable for experiments, when the 
barometer is high, the sky clear, and weather calm and warm 
or mild, but, even then, experiments often fail on the shaded 
side of a building. As a rule, the atmosphere is favorable, 
when the full moon i^ in or near the meridian and there is an 
appearance of aurora borealis in the sky. That which makes 
the atmosphere unfavorable has been called ethereal clouds and 
is supposed to be some compounds of ethereal matter that have 
not the nature <>t' a fluid. 



PART II. 

THE ELEMENTS FORMING THE BASIS OF ELECTRICITY. 

SECTION L 

EXPERIMENTS ON LIGHT AND OBSCURE RADIATIONS. 

The first one, in the history of science, who conceived the 
idea of separating sunlight into its component elements by let- 
ting it pass through a wedge of glass, was Sir Isaac Newton. 
He, evidently, got the idea because he thought light was mat- 
ter. After white or clear light has passed through this wedge, 
the elements are found separated and are projected on any 
surface behind the wedge. This visible arrangement of the 
elements is called the spectrum. In this, heat is detected in 
the direction of the original ray of light; but, as the different 
rays of light are separated in parsing through the wedge, some 
being crowded more or less toward the thin edge of the wedge, 
the common signs of the different elements, except three, ap- 
pear in the following order: heat, red light, yellow light, blue 
light, and violet light, The three elements next to the thin 
edge of the wedge have no visible signs, but the next last seems 
to produce coolness. The heat and the colors are not due to 
the elements themselves, but rather to compounds which they 
have formed and which produce certain impressions; the ele- 
ments themselves are invisible. Adjacent colors overlap each 
other, and thus the colors orange and green are produced. 
Violet is also a mixed color; but we have to put this down as 
the sign of the place of one certain element in the spectrum. 
- It is produced by a production of red at that place, which : s 
overlapped by the adjacent blue. At the same time that this 
spectrum is produced, there is a narrower one which is crowded 
the other way from the thick end of the wedge. This we may 
call a secondary spectrum. 



15 

Instead of a weclge we may use a three-sided bar of glass 
which is called a prism. Here, the secondary spectrum is of 
most importance, as it is very bright on account of its being 
crowded and narrow. The natural spectrum is visible or not 
according to the angle at which the light enters the prism. A 
bright and narrow spectrum is best, where it is to be studied by 
sight; but, for our experiments, a more diffused one is needed. 

If we let a broad spectrum fall on a surface, we find that 
the element, indicated by the heat band, makes the surface 
electropositive, and there are currents directly in to it from the 
air which come from a certain distance. These currents vary in 
length according to the atmosphere; but they always have a cer- 
tain proportion to the length of the currents that run to or from 
the other parts of the spectrum. We may represent the length 
of the currents, drawn by the element indicated by the heat 
band, by 2 — -about 2 (Lvinv^rs; then we have proportional 
figures for the length of the other currents. 

The element, indicated by red light, makes a surface 
electronegative, and this band sends out currents that have the 
length <>f 5 proportional units. The element, indicated by 
yellow, draws currents of the length of 1 unit; the blue band 
draws currents of the length of 6 units. The element, indica- 
ted by violet, sends out currents of the length of 7 units; the 
next element, without any visible sign, sends out currents of the 
length of 5 units. The element next to the last draws currents 
of the length of 12 units, and the last sends out currents 
of the length of 4 units. 

We have no names for these elements, except those of 
their indicators in the spectrum. We use those names as far 
as they go; hut we have named the sixth and seventh elements 
respectively act in Midi hoI? din. The sixth may, probably, he in- 
correctly named; hut the seventh is indicated by a slight cold 
and appears in connection with the dissolution of very hard 
substances in a greater quantity than in other cases. 



10 

At both ends of the spectrum, are also currents from and to 
the surface on which the spectrum is projected. These currents 
are eddy currents, which are always found around currents of 
ethereal matter, and extend infinitely. On any side of the 
spectrum, they have the same length and the same width as 
that of the adjacent band in the spectrum, and each successive 
space of the width of that band has currents in opposite 
directions. 

Between adjacent elements in the spectrum, there is a 
point without currents, if the two elements have opposite elec- 
tric effects, as the red and the yellow. The currents in both 
bands become gradually shorter toward a point some where near 
the middle of the orange. Between the yellow and the blue 
which have similar electric effects, there is no point without 
currents; but those of the blue band become gradually shorter, 
until they reach the length of the yellow band. In this and 
similar cases; it is difficult to say where the dividing line be 
tween the adjacent elements really is. 

These 8 elements which we find in the spectrum may be 
projected in the same order without the refraction of a visible 
ray of light or the production of a visible spectrum. Anything 
placed behind a prism or wedge will have an obscure radiation 
strong enough to produce an ^invisible spectrum" on a surface 
in front of the prism. This may be studied by means of an 
astatic pendulum or also a fixed pendulum. 

A ray or a pencil of light, passing into a dark room, is in 
every respect a current, or it produces a current. This may be 
observed in the same way as electric currents in the air. We 
may also -mention, that there are such currents in the direction 
of the rays of the sun at daybreak. There is often a noticeable 
movement of air in the same direction at that time; but the 
currents of electricity or ethereal matter seem to be due to the 
rays, and not to the movement of air. 

We notice also that what we have called ethereal com- 



17 

pounds, odors, electric charges, and even electric currents have 
obscure radiations that will produce an "invisible spectrum/ 7 

Again, we find that light and obscure radiations are convertible 
into electricity and will break up or strengthen what we have 
called ethereal clouds. A ray of light, sufficiently condensed, 
is an electric current. Electric currents, both voltaic, dy- 
namic, and atmospheric, are nothing but movements of ethereal 
matter of no definite composition. Some forms of ethereal 
matter need some coarser matter to lean on, as they are easily 
broken up into simple elements and dispersed; thus we find 
rarified air a poorer conductor of electricity than copper or iron. 
Some substances are poor conductors, however, in spite of their 
compactness, as glass. As a rule the hardest and the loosest 
substances are not good conductors. 

The visible white light can not be said to be due to a mix- 
ture of pure ethereal elements; the pure elements are invisible, 
The colors are evidently caused by compounds of simple ele- 
ments, and white and black must also be put down as colors. 
Black reflects obscure radiations as much as white; and blue, as 
much as yellow, in spite of the greater darkness of blue. 

The invisible elements in obscure radiations and rays of 
light become partly separated, when the rays fall obliquely on 
a surf ace and are reflected. If they are projected on a second 
surface, they produce nearly as plain currents as in an ordin- 
ary "invisible spectrum;" but the ''invisible spectrum" may be 
several yards long. 

We will not attempt to explain why the different invisible 
elements separate on passing through a prism; but the separa- 
tion by deflection is illustrated when we throw sand obliquely 
against a surface. Here, the coarser and finer sand separates 
and gathers to different sides, as it falls to the ground. 



SECTION II. 

CLASSES OF ETHEREAL COMPOUNDS. 

If we give a piece of red paper a lead pencil polish, we 
will see a blue color in the polish, when we look at the surface 
at a certain angle against the light. If a blue paper is treated 
in the same way, a red or chocolate color appears in the polish, 
when seen against the daylight. Here, there seems to be a 
production of a color on account of the repulsion of certain ele- 
ments by another below the surface. It shows also that a sub- 
stance, for some reason, can crowd back certain rays of light, 
while others are allowed to pass or are used in the structure 
itself. 

A surface color, that appears only when seen at a certain 
angle with the surface, indicates a repulsion of that particular 
element for one reason or other. About the natural color of a 
substance, which is not only on its surface, we can say very 
little. Color. like odor, seems to do no service in keeping the 
molecules or the atoms of a substance together. It seems to 
be only an ornament, and Mother Nature says very little about 
it. 

Ethereal compounds may be divided into two classes: 
those that are only connected with certain coarser matter and 
those that are free. The first class are those that serve as the 
binding material of the atoms and molecules of coarser matter 
or exist only as an ornament around certain substances from 
which they can not be separated without destruction. The 
second class are those that can exist in connection with different 
substances with which they only seem to have a temporary re- 
lation, and may, or may not, change the appearance of the 
substance with which they are connected. Of the free ethereal 
compounds, there are two kinds: those that change the ap- 



19 

pearance of tnat with which they are connected, and those that 
never do so. To the former kind belong the troublesome 
ethereal clouds that often prevent experiments that we have 
before described. It is some of them that change liquids to 
solids, and contract solid bodies in proportion to this amount in 
the air. To the latter kind belong positive and negative elec- 
tricity and others. 

The ethereal compounds that are not free, as we have 
called it, are formed in the structure of the coarser matter 
where they belong, or on the surface. They may be separated 
or liberated by friction and corrosion, when they may exist 
as compounds for a longer or shorter time. They form ethe- 
real clouds that are easily detected, but keep sinking downward 
slowly, as they are affected by gravitation. As it might be 
believed that these clouds are only molecules of coarser matter, 
we may state that they sink through material that is impervious 
t > the lightest gases. They are also decomposed and dispersed 
when ethereal compounds of an opposite character is brought 
in among them. 

The invisible elements may be separated into two divisions: 
those that produce positive electricity and those that produce 
negative. When decomposed, the ethereal compounds that 
contain more of the first kind also produce more positive elec- 
tricity, and the opposite is true of those that contain more of 
the last kind. The composition with reference to these two 
different classes of elements determines, to a great extent, the 
ability of one compound to neutralize another, as opposite 
kinds are destructive of each other. There is no compound, 
however, so generally destructive as that which is connected 
with heat. 

As ethereal compounds are constantly changing in a cer- 
tain systematic way, when they are not decomposed, we can 
produce an ' invisible spectrum" of them by holding a paper 

into an ethereal cloud and then placing it behind a prism, or by 



20 

rubbing two pieces of the same material over a place behind 
the prism. The proportion of the elements are shown by the 
width of each band, where they are projected. 

Whether we shall put down akasa as an ethereal compound 
or a product of another class, we can not say. There are so 
many curious phenomena connected with akasa that its physical 
composition has not been looked after. Its composition is 
more fixed than that of ethereal compounds that have been 
examined. 



SECTION ITT. 

THE TWO KINDS OF ELECTRICITY. 

An electric current is only allow of a mixture of various 
kinds of ethereal matter and has no definite composition. It has 
been shown that currents from different batteries are so differ- 
ent that they produce very different effects, quantity and force 
being the same. 

The word electricity was first applied to static electricity, 
to charges of positive or negative electricity, produced by friction, 
or to sparks produced by the same. The original word, accord- 
ing to some, seems to have been alak te re, soul of matter.* 

* Anatol Trolladeen and others. 
As the friction of amber was often used to produce ala/c, liter- 
ally soul-gush, the Greek seem to have called that substance- 
eleTctron. 

Positive ana negative electricity are two common condi- 
tions, into which all forms of ethereal matter are thrown more 
or less during the process of changing. 

The invisible ethereal elements we may designate by num- 
bers corresponding to their places in the spectrum, commencing 
from the heat band, where we have No. 1. Nos. 1, 3, 4-. and 7 
produce positive electricity, and a spectrum, produced by 
a positive charge, gives only these elements with nothing but a 
trace of the others. Nos. 2, 5, 6, and 8 produce negative elec- 
tricity and are found in its spectrum. 

The elements of one of these classes are seldom found 
free from a mixture of the others. For this reason we can 
never produce one kind of electricity without producing some of 
the other.. The elements that have the greater quantity pro- 
duce their kind of electricity around the most convenient point 
or material basis that can s(>vw, to liold the charge. The other 
class produce their electricity in the air around the main charge 



22 

and also on points of coarser matter, if there be any in that 
place, hi taking a spectrum of the central charge it makes 
some difference, whether the wedge or prism is brought within 
the surrounding air charge, or is outside of it. 

The two kinds of electricity have a mutual tendency to 
neutralize each other; but still they are mutually attracted. If 
we produce a certain amount of the two kinds of electricity by 
the friction of two substances, as silk and glass, and impart 
some of it respectively to two pit balls that are suspended near 
each other by silk fibers, as silk is a poor conductor, the pit balls 
are seen to attract each other, which is plainly caused by the 
different charges imparted to them. The same attraction is 
also noticed, if we let a wire simultaneously touch two balls or 
other two objects, thus charged. However, we find this pecu- 
liarity that the negative electricity runs through the wire to the 
positive; but never the positive, to the negative. This may be 
observed by means of an astatic pendulum, as the current swells 
outside of the wire and is discharged from the end near the 
positive charge. It helps us to understand this phenomenon 
better, when we consider positive electricity as a fluid of a more 
viscous character than the other. Practically, positive electri- 
city never runs toward the negative, though it may have a ten- 
dency to approach it. This can never be observed, as negative 
electricity never leaves time for it. 

The construction of an electric battery is easily understood 
from these two different peculiarities of negative and positive 
electricity. If we put a copper plate in dilute sulphuric acid, 
the ethereal matter, set free by the corrosion of the copper, 
produces a charge of positive electricity in the vessel. If we 
put a zinc plate in dilute sulphuric acid in another vessel or 
jar, this produces negative electricity. We have then two elec- 
trostatic batteries. We may connect these jars or vessels by 
means of a wire and use the two as one ordinary battery; but it 
is customary to have the two different plates in the same jar. 



23 

The negative electricity, that is produced around the zinc plates, 
runs all the time over to the positive plate through the acid. 
As electricity is a fluid, consequently matter, it must seek an 
outlet, and it is found to be discharged into the air from the top 
of the copper plate. The current here discharged is already a 
mixture of ethereal matter; for the positive and negative elec- 
tricity has already been broken up by the union. Air is not a 
very good conductor of electricity, and we may fasten a wire to 
the top of the copper plate. The current will then flow out 
through this and be discharged at the end. This may be ob- 
served with an astatic pendulum. An electric current is very 
sluggish, so to speak, with nothing but this short wire as a 
path. It is discharged into the air all the way from the battery. 
If we can lengthen the wire so that we can dip the extreme end 
of it into a tank or pond, we find that the current begins to run 
with greater force and swells less outside of the wire, because 
it has plenty of matter of good eondieively to escape over. 
The rapidity of the current, that starts from the negative plate, 
naturally, produces a suction of ethereal matter down through 
that plate. This may also be observed by means of an astatic 
pendulum. We can increase the force and volumn of the cur- 
rent considerably by fastening a wire of the length of a yard to 
the negative plate; but, if it is very long, there is need of too 
much force to draw the ethereal matter that, naturally, comes 
over the wire. 

In practice, however, the wire from the positive plate is 
bent around, so that the other end is fixed to the negative 
plate. The current then runs through the battery again. This 
arrangement is called the electric circuit. 

We easily see that the attraction of the positive electricity 
on the negative in the battery serves as the motive power. As 
the positive electricity draws a current from the negative, and 
the negative moves and gives the current, its moving force, 
the names tractin and motin have been proposed instead of 



24 

the unwieldy names we have. 

These substances that are good conductors of electricity 
are also suitable substances for holding electric charges. Some 
substances, as glass, gutta-percha, silk, dry air, and dry paper 
and wood, are very poor conductors and are used to insulate 
the conductors for electricity from substances of good conduc- 
tivity, whereby the current or charge is prevented from escap- 
ing. Metals, as a rule, are good conductors. 



SECTION IV. 

THE PRODUCTION CF ELECTRICITY. 

The proportion of ethereal elements in positive electricity 
seems to be: 12 parts of Xo. 7; 6 of No. 4; 2 of No. 1; and 1 
bf No. 3. The proportion of elements in negative electricity 
seems to be: 7 of No. 5; 5 of No. 2:5 of No. 6; and 4 of No. 8. 
Of course, it is difficult to get exact figures, as we do not know 
the exact dividing line between the elements in the spectrum. 

Sunlight will sometimes produce more positive, and some- 
times more negative electricity, according to the changes in the 
radiation and the state of the medium in which the electricity is 
produced. The pure elements do not produce electricity or 
any other ethereal combination, except they are brought to a 
state of rest. This is. to some extent, true of visible light; 
but a dense atmosphere is enough to arrest light somewhat, 
while obscure radiations pass through even opaque bodies. 
Positive electricity has its greatest strength in the less refran- 
gible part of the spectrum, while the negative has its strength 
in the other part. 

It is on surfaces, especially of opaque bodies, that electric- 
ity is formed. This is not due to the arrest of light, however, 
so much as to the repulsion of certain ethereal elements in- 
different substances. On the surf ace of every body, or around 
it, as a charge swells outside of the body that holds it, there is 
a slight charge of electricity which is natural to the substance. 
This surface electricity with its surrounding opposite elcctricitv 
is different from that produced by the decomposition of the sub- 
stance. If the electricity produced by decomposition be more 
positive, the surface electricity is more negative, and viceversa. 

On account of the surface electricity, we can make dry 
batteries by connecting two different pieces of metal: but the 
current produced in this way is weaker than when the metaN 



26 

are acted on by acid. Here, the current also has an opposite 
direction; it is from the copper to the zinc, as the surface of 
copper is negative, and that of zinc positive. 

Colors modify the natural surface electricity. Here, blue 
is positive, and red negative. Those substances that are easily 
dissolved also have a modified surface electricity. 

Heat, when applied to metals and water, produces positive 
electricity; but this does not seem to be due to the heat itself, 
but to its action on the ethereal binding material in those sub- 
stances. Heat attacks what we have called solidin which is an 
important element of positive electricity. 

If we place one cup of cold water, and one of warm, be- 
side each other and connect them by means of a wire, there is 
a current from the cold to the warm cup; but if we put a piece 
of ice in the cold cup, this becomes more positive. This is due 
to the dissolution of the ice. The same takes place if we put 
salt or sugar into the cold cup. The positive effect of heat 
seems to be due to its neutralization of those ethereal com- 
pounds that produce solidification. Hot air in the summer 
time is often negative or sultry, as it is called, but the heating 
of cold air produces positive electricity. 

The natural electricity, produced on the surface of the fol- 
lowing metals, is positive, becoming more negative toward the 
end of the list: sodium, magnesium, zinc, lead and tin. When 
they are decomposed, they produce negative electricity in the 
same order. The following substances have a negative sur- 
face, becoming more positive toward the end of the list: glass, 
carbon, platinum, gold, silver copper, andiron. When decom- 
posed, they produce positive electricity in the same order. 

When two substances of about the same electric character 
are placed in juxtaposition with each other, their electric 
difference becomes greater. We can produce a current with 
carbon and platinum, though both are positive in acid; but 
platinum would be more negative than carbon. 



27 

Friction lias not been used to produce currents, but charge. 
Two pieces of the same substance may be rubbed together; but 
the electric effect is greater, if a positive and a negative sub- 
stance be rubbed together, on account of the effect of juxta- 
position. If we rub the following substances, the first in the 
list is the most positive; and the last, the least: cat's skin, 
wool, ivory, glass, cotton, silk, wood, the different metals, 
caoutchouc, sealing wax, resin, and leather. 



SECTION V. 

THE RENEWAL OF ETHEREAL BINDING MATERIAL IN THE STRUC- 
TURE OF MATTER. 

Ethereal compounds undergo a steady change in a certain 
order. This takes place in free ethereal compounds and in the 
structure of coarse matter. They may change from one place 
to another in a certain system; but they are also broken up and 
replaced by new ones of the same kind in a certain order, 
while the discarded elements and compounds are thrown out to 
considerable distances. 

We can plainly show that an electric charge is renewed. 
If we charge a ball with positive electricity, we find that nega- 
tive electricity is formed around it, which constantly sends cur- 
rents into the charge. Tins would have the effect of neutraliz- 
ing the charge; but it is not found to decrease for a very long 
time, if the insulation is good. If we impart only a small 
charge to a piece of iron and enclose it in a glass bottle, where 
the discarded compounds can not be entirely thrown out, we 
will find, after a day or more, that the charge has increased. 

The renewal of ethereal binding .material in some sub- 
stances is more rapid than in others. Some substances throw 
out exhausted ethereal matter farther than others. In the fol- 
lowing list steel has the greatest effect in throwing -refuse 
ethereals": steel, stone, bone, iron, and copper. If we fix 
two tin plates at different ends of a wire, we can produce a cur- 
rent through the wire in any direction by standing at a distance 
and turn the flat side of a steel plate toward any of the tin 
plates. This current ceases, when we turn the edge toward 
them. Lead has a greater effect than steel in this experiment; 
but it produces an opposite electric effect to that when it is de- 
composed, which the substances in the preceding list do not. 

All this renewal may seem to be a freak of nature, but it 



29 

is, no doubt, a necessity. ft requires power or energy to hold 
the molecules tightly together. Energy, however, can not be 
used eternally without being renewed. 

AYhen electricity is produced by tlie friction of glass and 
the action of acid on carbon, this is due more to the disturb- 
ance of the renewing material than to the decomposition of 
those substances. 



PART III. 

THE LAWS OF ELECTRICrFT. 

SECTION I. 

ELECTEIO CHARGES. 

Electric charges are said to be static or standing still. It 
will be seen that this is not literally true. 

If we impart a positivs charge to a moist paper ball, sus- 
pended by a silk fiber, we find that it forms a sphere around 
the ball. This sphere rotates around an axis, parallel to that 
of the earth. This may be observed by means of an astatic 
pendulum. The diameter of this sphere may be from an inch 
to some yards. All around the central sphere is a region of 
opposite electricity, which has a depth equal to the diameter of 
the central sphere. This negative region, supposing the center 
to be positive, consists of nothing but currents that run in- 
ward to the periphery of the positive sphere. Tl*e central 
sphere with the surrounding covering of opposite electricity 
forms a perfect sphere, which we may call an electrosphere 
The diameter of an electrosphere is always 3 times that of the 
central sphere. All flames, as a candle or lamp light, have 
always positive electrosphere-. 

If we impart a negative charge to the ball or suspend a 
small piece of zinc that is moistened with acid, we find a cen- 
tral sphere of outwardly running currents. This sphere of cur- 
rents is surrounded by a layer of more positive electricity. The 
layer has a depth equal to the diameter of the central sphere of 
currents. This is a negative electrosphere. 

By examination of the surroundings we find that an elec- 
trosphere has a position in the center of a rotating cylinder of 
ethereal matter. Tins cylinder has an infinite axial extension 
and a. diameter 3 times that of the electrosphere. 

The rotation of the cylinder with the electrosphere is pro- 



duced by an east going current of ethereal matter around the 
earth. It, therefore, moves eastward with the lower side, and 
westward with the upper, 

If we charge a cylindrical body or a long rod, there is no 
electrosphere produced. It will have a cylindrical charge with 
currents in the center or outside, according to the nature of the 
charge, and the charge will produce similar currents in axial 
directions infinitely. The cylinder revolves, if it be brought 
somewhat parallel to the axis of the earth. Then the rotating 
cylinder will also have a diameter 3 times that of the double 
cylindrical charge and 9 times that of the central charge. 



SECTION II. 

CURRENTS IN CONDUCTORS. 

If we charge two bodies differently and then connect them 
by wire, we find a current over the wire which swells outside of 
it. As soon as the current ceases, we give the two bodies a 
greater charge, and the diameter of the current is increased. 

If we connect a plate of copper and a plate of zinc we 
have a constant current over the* wire. If we substitute an 
iron plate for the one of copper, but of the same size, the cur- 
rent gets a greater diameter. This is not due to a greater pro- 
duction of electricity, in this case, but to the fact that the cur- 
rent runs with less force; for the surface of iron is nearly as 
positive as that of zinc and there is too little attraction. The 
amount of electricity in both was the same, we will say; for the 
amount of fluid passing in a current is measured by the sec- 
tional area multiplied by the velocity. 

If the force of an electric current be the same, we can 
find the relative amount of electricity from the sectional area of 
the currents. 

The diameter of a current cilso varies as the conductivity 
of the conductor used. If we use a fine wire, the current 
swells. If we substitute one of iron for one of copper, the 
diameter of the current is also increased, because iron has less 
conductivity than copper. To find the relative quantity of 
electricity that passes in a current, we must know the force of 
the battery, the insistence of the circuit or the conductor, and 
the sectional area of the current. 

Loss of current is caused by very sharp turns in the con- 
ductor and also by gradual ramification of the conductor which 
terminate in the air or are connected with the ground. 

In the practical application of electricity, the resistance of 
the circuit is of great importance. It is found by comparison 



with a known resistance. It is plain that, if the current he 
given two paths, and half of it goes over one and half of it over 
the other, the resistances of those two paths must be like. 

Resistance tends to waste a current by forcing it into the 
air; velocity or electromotive force tends to send it through 
the resistance, thereby saving it. The rule is that the current, 
after passing over a circuit, will have a strength equal to the 
electromotive force, divided by the resistance, For the measure- 
ment of electromotive force, resistance and quantity, there are 
numerous instruments, and certain units have been agreed upon. 

The unit of quantity is called ampere; that of electromotive 
force, volt; and that of resistance, ohm. If we wish to send a 
current to a station 5 miles off through a wire that has a resist- 
ance of iS ohms, and we have a battery whose electromotive 
force is 1 volt and has also a resistance of 2 ohms, making the 
total resistance 50 ohms, the current at the other station will 
be 1 divided by 50, equal to 1-50 ampere. 

If the telegraph apparatus, there, could not be worked with 
less than 1-20 ampere, we would have to make use of more 
batteries and let the current from one run through the other. 
If we put them side by side and produce a ramification of the 
conductor by using a wire for each battery and fastening them 
to the main line, we would only swell the current, and there 
would be nothing more than 1-50 ampere at the other station. 
If one of the batteries had more electromotive force than one 
volt, there might be a little stronger current at the other end. 
If the current runs from one battery through the next ifcc., the 
electromotive force of all is added together. 



SECTION III. 

VABIOUS CLASSES OF CURRENTS. 

A well made classification, and corresponding nomencla- 
ture, is not onlv valuable, but absolutely necessary, in order to 
explain and discuss phenomena without embarrassment. 

Primarv and secondary currents, — The currents produced 
directly by a generator of electricity, whether through the air 
or a special conductor are primary. An electric current al- 
ways tends to have a cylindrical form, and this is always the 
case, when the conductor is a wire. Outside of the primary 
current, however, is a movement of ethereal matter in the op- 
posite direction like an eddy. The ethereal matter that moves 
that way forms a cylindrical layer around it like a tubing that 
is drawn in the opposite direction to that of the primary cur- 
rent. The thickness of this tubing is equal to one half of the 
diameter of the primary current. If a wire be stretched in this 
tubular eddy, it will take up considerable of it and will keep a 
current, even where it is outside of the eddy. Such a current 
i> called a secondary current. The current is also said to be 
••induced." 

The tubular eddy has another eddy outside of it that runs 
in the same direction as the primary current. These eddies 
and counter-eddies keep on infinitely. If the primary current 
be suddenly shut off, the nearest eddies -ink together and occu- 
py the. wire by turn, when there are currents back and forth 
for some time. 

If we take a large metal bar and give the ends different sur- 
face electrification, there will be a weak current from one end to 
the other. This current we may suppose to be entirely in the bar; 

but. by examination, we find that there is current in the same 
direction outside "fit a distance from the surface which is equal 
ho the diameter of the bar. We might think that it would be 



35 

right to call this the "swell" of the current; but it is not. 

If we prolong the path of the current by fixing a fine wire 
to the center of the most positive end of the bar, the current 
proceeds over this wire. Here, it has a k *swell/' because the 
diameter ot the current is more than three times that of the 
wire. If the whole primary current has only a diameter 3 times 
that of the conductor, the outside current consists only of 
ethereal matter carried along by the current proper. The 
outside flow, in this case, we may call a carried current. 

When a conductor is used that has so much conductivity 
that there is no swell to a given current, but only a carried ftow 
outside, which gives the whole primary current a diameter only 
3 times that of the conductor, we may say that we use an ade- 
quate conductor. If there is a swell in the current, the con- 
ductor is inadequate. For practical purposes, we must not 
take the word ''inadequate" to mean that the conductor can 
not be used. 

If we keep a current passing through a steel bar or any 
other hard substance for a certain time, it will have a similar 
current through it, after the battery current is shut down, and 
will keep it for a great length of time. This current is, evi 
dently, due to the direction in which exhausted ethereal matter 
is thrown, after it has been acted on by an electric current. 
This we call a fixed current, A permanent magnet has a fixed 
current around it. 

Various conditions of currents. — In a circuit, the current 
in a battery is called the internal current; and that outside, th \ 
external. That part of the whole conductor or path in a cir- 
cuit which is occupied by the battery, is called the internal con- 
ductor; ami the whole circuit outside of the battery, the ext< /•- 
mil circuit. 

For the sake of discussing phenomena in nature, we may 
use this classification. When we have a positive plate at one 
end <>f a wire and a negative at the other, while the current' is 



36 

between them, we may call this ari inter-elementary current. 

Whatever flows past the positive generator may be called a 
trans-elementary current or an extension of the current. As 
there is flow of ethereal matter to the negative plate or generator 
from the air, this may be called a drawn current. 

If a current be varied in anyway so as to produce signals 
or convey ideas, it may be called a figured current. If we 
take a thick metal plate and make a red circle on one side, and 
a blue one the other, there will be a current through the 
plate from the red to the blue; but there will be no such current 
between the centers of the circles, except there should be an 
opposite one. This depends, however, on the size of the cir- 
cles. We may paint any figures, and the sectional areas of 
the currents produced are like the figures. These currents are 
seetionally figured. To what distance a sectional figure can be 
preserved in a transelementary current, is difficult to say. It, 
evidently, depends on the electromotive force. 

When a current is varied so as to represent sound waves, 
as in the telephone, or to be intermittent, magnetizing and de- 
magnetizing a piece of soft iron for longer or shorter times, as 
in the telegraph, it may be said to be potentially varied. 



PART IV. 

ELECTRICITY IN ANIMAL ORGANISMS. 

SECTIOX I. 

THE GENERAL ELECTRIC STATE OF THE ANIMAL BODY. 

It has been proven by experiments that electricity exists in 
the human body and, at the present time, there is, probably, 
no doubt on that point, though many believe that it is there 
accidentally and is not of any use. It is, however, difficult to 
say if it is fluid akasa or electricity. 

In these days, when a closed electric circuit is largely used 
n art, the electricity in the organic kingdom is liable to be 
greatly misunderstood. Electricians expect to find electric 
circuits in animal organisms and in plants like those used in 
art. As a rule, there are no electric circuits in the organic 
kingdom. When a current runs over a nerve, it is positive 
and negative at different ends, or the current is an extension of 
an inter -elementary system, if it be not produced by a mvstical 
psychic force. A tree is positive at the top and negative at the 
root, which acts in harmony with its akasaic system. It may 
be considered either as a thermic or photic generator, the top 
being green and exposed to heat, and the roots white, red, or 
orange and kept cool. The sap that rises in the plant, is eleva- 
ted by both electric and akasaic force toward the top, where 
the electric current exhausts itself or is discharged into the air. 

In some experiments on the resistance of the human body, 
the electric currents in the body have not been taken into ac- 
count, and the results obtained have not been correct. It 
makes a great difference, whether the currents in the body are 
with or against that of the battery. If one of the hands are 
cold, a short wire, held over a slightly warm stove or in the 
flame of a candle, will produce a tinkling in the hand that is 
often greater than when a stronger battery is used. 



38 

In studying the electricity of animal bodies, we have first 
to deal with static electricity or, more exactly, with positive 
and negative electricity. The surface of the body is either 
positive or negative; it is neutral only when it passes from one 
electrification to the other. If there be a strong circulation of 
blood in the hands, they are very positive and will impart a 
slight charge to bodies with which they come in contact, which 
may be ascertained by any device used for studying static 
electricity. Exertion of any particular part makes that part 
negative. If a limb be very cold it is negative. 

As a rule, the animal body is positive, because it is warm 
and has a negative structure, though some parts are more posi- 
tive than others. The rule may be given that the body is most 
positive, where it has its greatest diameter. The chest of a 
man is more positive than that of a woman. When at rest, a 
healthy body has a positive spheroid around it whose diameter 
varies according to the state of the body and of the atmosphere. 
On the other hand, when the muscular tissue has been subject 
to general decomposition from activity or other causes, a nega- 
tive spheroid is produced around the body. 

Since the human body is either positive or negative, it lias 
been thought that it should manifest attraction or repulsion in 
regard to other bodies. Especially has it been believed that 
his attraction is the cause of sexual affection. Electric repul- 
sion and attraction, however, is of so little practical account 
that it can not be seen in very light bodies, except they are 
highly charged. The attraction between the different sexes, 
which many say exists in a material sense, is due, rather, to 
lines of akasa that instinctively stretch out from one person 
and takes another by the grip or surrounds him, as far as it can 
be understood. It is not due to electrification; for two bodies 
oppositely charged have rather a mutual repulsion, when they 
are a certain distance apart. 



SECTION II. 

VISIBLE EFFECTS OF THE FLOW OF ETHEREAL MATTER IN THE BODY. 

The distribution of nourishment to the various parts of the 
organism is directly affected by the circulation of blood; the 
blood is forced around by the action of the heart; but whether 
the contraction of the heart is produced by intermittent electric 
currents, we can not say. There is a current over the nerves 
to a muscle when it contracts and it is probable that the con- 
traction of muscles, generally, is helped by the action of elec- 
tric currents or of fluid akasa. This we do not know; but it 
has been shown that an electric current will contract muscles 
after death. 

There are currents, following the blood out through the 
arteries and inward through the veins; but whether they are 
causes or effects, can not be said. As they have a carried cur- 
rent outside of the surface of the body, they may be observed 
with a small astatic pendulum. 

The distribution of the right kind of material to the various 
parts is, of course, affected by ethereal attraction, especially in 
the interior of hones; but all this can not be seen or studied 
directly. 

It is a curious fact that, at those places on the surface of 
the human body where there are frequent discharges of ethe- 
real matter, though not constantly, there are excrescences in 
the form of hair. As we can not distinguish between a now of 
ethereal matter or fluid akasa and an electric current, we speak 
of the difference in the electromotive force of this discharge in 
different persons. Where this force is generally great, the 
hair is coarse and straight. As a highly positive condition <»! 
the half static electricity in the human organism, gives a current 
lc>> force, those who have a more positive body have more 
curly haii\ while the more negative have straighter. This 



4rO 

same law applies to growths and formations in both the organic 
ami the inorganic kingdom. Frost figures on windows are al- 
ways curly and rich in appearance in a positive atmosphere, 
but straight and sharp in a negative one. 

The direction in which hair lies also shows in which direction 
the discharged ethereal matter flows. The hair on the heads of 
humans has a vortex point a little behind the crown. This vor- 
tex is --with the sun" in the northern hemisphere; under the 
equator, there is no vortex: and. in the southern hemisphere, we 
should expect the vortex to he opposite to that in the northern, 
turning -with the sun" there, at least in aborigines. The div- 
ision of hair at that point is due to a greater and more steady 
discharo-e at that place, and the vortex is due to the rotation of 
the discharged ethereal matter or electricity. Cattle and other 
animals have a vortex on the hack directly over the stomach. 
The gyration of the charges in animal bodies are produced by 
friction against an east going current around the earth, as that 
of other charges. 

The hairs on all animal bodies show in which direction 
electricity <>r surplus ethereal matter flows at every point, and 
also the comparative strength of the discharge. We may sup- 
pose, however, that gushes of akasa or akasaic organs produce 
some effect in this respect. If the hairs turn opposite to the 
natural direction in any place, this is a sign of an abnormal 
condition, but it seems most frequently to be produced by em- 
anation of akasa. 

When nutriment is deposited in the structure of the body, 
which must be affected by ethereal attraction or akasa or by both, 
ethereal binding material is needed. If we examine a region 
immediately around the surface of the body, we find an out- 
ward flow of either ethereal matter or akasa, that can be de- 
tected only to a distance of an inch or so from the surface, ex- 
cept that the hairs serve as a conduit fortius flow. This ceases 
periodically and, during sleep or perfect rest, there is then a 



41 

region around the surface of the body that presents all the 
characteristics of a "sphere of ethereal selection."* This oc- 
curs as regularly as in plants during perfect rest; hut the regu- 
larity is disturbed by exertion, excitement, or other causes of 
decomposition of tissue. This selection only interrupts the 
positive spheroid around the body and, when there is a nega- 
tive spheroid, the selection is irregular or can not be detected. 

It is well known that muscular power is not always pro- 
portional to the size of the muscles. The strongest always dis- 
charge more electricity from their body and produce a greater 
sphere around them under similar circumstances. 

That the electricity, in connection with the akasa, is not 
the product of power, but the cause, seems to be shown by the 
fact that neutralization of the electricity in the body, which dis- 
perses it, causes languor and weakness. Such neutralization 
takes place when bathing long in cold water or when 
a current from a battery is passed through the body. 
The power of certain organs are also lessened, when 
they receive a charge that is different from the natural one. 

The muscles are. evidently, contracted by something simi- 
lar to magnetic energy; for it may be observed that, during 
contraction, there is a current over the nerves to them and a 
circulation around them, as there is a very short current at right 
angles with it as long as it is contracted. 

*See "Electricity as a Form of Ethereal Matter." 



SECTION III. 

SOURCES OF ELECTRICITY IN ANIMAL ORGANISMS. 

The chief source of electricity in animal organisms is, of 
course, the food that is decomposed in the stomach. On the 
whole, food produces more negative than positive electricity, as 
it is of loose texture. There is, however, a great difference be- 
tween different kinds of food in this respect. Hydro-carbonace- 
ous food produces more positive electricity than nitrogenous, 
which is eminently negative. 

The decomposing fluids in the body are chiefly saliva and 
pepsin. Like all corrosive and decomposing fluids, their own 
natural electrization is negative. Saliva seems to act on the 
hydro-carbonaceous parts of the food more readily than on the 
nitrogenous. However, it has a decomposing effect on all kinds 
of digestible food. For this reason, everything eaten should 
be well mixed with saliva. 

Those foods that produce the most negative electricity are: 
animal tissue, such as lean meat: white of eggs; leguminous 
seeds, as beans and peas; fish; gluten in farinaceous substances; 
vegetables; cheese, in milk or separated; and acids and certain 
mineral salts. Those that are more positive are: sugars; starch; 
fat; salt; edible cartilage and bone; and yolk of eggs. 

In the following table, the diameters of the natural surface 
charge and of the charge produced by the action of saliva are 
given for different substances, the bulk being about that of a 
grain of coffee in every case. The diameters, which are given 
in centimeters, are very great on account of the high tempera- 
ture and the low electric capacity of the air at the time of the 
experiments. 



Substances. 


Surface Charge. 


Charge by Saliva. 


Sugar, loose. 


40, positive. 


494, positive. 


Butter, salted. 


44, " 


84, " 


Bread. 


170, " 


612. " 


Yolk of eggs. 


95, " 


550, " 


Tea. leaves. 


52, " 


110, " 


Beef, raw. 


216, " 


642, negative. 


White of eggs. 


608, " 


608, " 


Grass, green. 


26, " 


190, " 


Coffee roasted and 


whole 48, " 


over 1000, positive. 


Dry apples, sour. 


38, negative. 


78, negative. 



Though the figures in the preceding list seem enormous, the 
electricity produced would, in no case, be perceptible. In hot 
weather, electricity spreads enormously, and a perceptible 
charge would spread through the air for many rods. 

The action of saliva on some substances, as mustard, is 
peculiar. There seems *o be a sudden obscure radiation in the 
opposite direction to that from which the saliva attacks it. 

The chief production of electricity is in the stomach, where 
the food is more or less perfectly decomposed. As the ethereal 
matter in the structure of different substances seems to be pro- 
portional to their weight, we can best judge of the amount of 
electricity, that is produced by a certain amount of food, by 
noting what a mass of zinc of equal weight would yield. 

To show the relative value of different foods as sources of 
energy, we give a table, showing the diameters of currents 
drawn by a dry bright zinc plate over a copper wire, about f 
millimeter thick and 20 centimeters long, from each substance 
when moistened with pepsin. The zinc plate was 5 square cen- 
timeters and the substances were shaped into cubes so that a 
surface of 6 square centimeter^ were acted on by pepsin. 
The difference in the amount of electricity produced 
by the different substances is found by multiplying the 
sectional area of each current by its electromotive force. 



44 

tlie electromotive force is found approximately from the 
number of oscillations per minute of an astatic pendu- 
lum and is expressed in arbitrary units. The diameters are ex- 
pressed in centimeters. To be exact we should make allowance 
for carried current and take only one third of the diameters 
given. 



Substances. Diameter 


of Oil) 


•rents. 


E. M. 


Force. 


Meat, lean roast. 


18. 




1.625 




• • raw. 


10. 




1.1 




" fat roast. 


8. 




1.17 




Bread in pepsin and saliva. 


8.4 




1.54. 




" in pepsin alone. 


5.2 




.87 




" in saliva. 


4. 




.75 




Raw fat 


4.2 




.613 




Butter 


0.4 




1.115 





The effect of the pepsin on the copper wire was simply to 
make its electrization like that of the dry zinc plate. 

When an animal becomes weak on account of hunger, it is 
not because the tensile strength of the muscles has become less, 
but because there is very little ethereal energy. There is an 
increase of strength from the time mastication begins, long be- 
fore the food is appreciably decomposed. However, we must 
keep in mind that weakness in animal organisms is not always 
a sign of the want of energy; it may be a sign that the energy 
is shut away for the time. 

The animal body is. of course, not an insulator, and the 
electricity, produced during digestion, can escape quite easily. 
When the body is at perfect rest, such escape does not take 
place to a very great extent. This seems to indicate that it is 
converted into some ethereal forms of compounds and stored 
away for later use. This process may not be exactly like the 
charging of a storage battery; for the akasaic organism in the 
body controls the transformation of electricity to a greater or 
less extent. By the secondary or instinctive action of the soul, 



45 

the physical laws, governing ethereal matter in the organism, 
are applied or suspended through the agency of the akasaic 
system. We may suppose the stomach to have an insulation of 
akasa. When exertion takes place after a meal, however, there 
is a great waste of electricity. Only a slight motion causes 
radiations of electric currents from the stomach. Beetles that 
are eager feeders have currents running out from their bodies, 
during meals, to a distance equal to 3 times the length of their 
bodies. 

During digestion, the stomach and adjacent parts have, of 
course, the greatest charge. This charge rotates around an 
axis parallel to that of the earth, when it can. This is indica- 
ted by a vortex of hair on the back of animals that are steady 
feeders. As food yields more negative than positive eleetricity 
the hrst keeps the center, and the positive elements are, natural- 
ly, thrown to adjacent parts, to the heart and the lungs and to 
the abdomen. The increase in pulsation after a meal is prob- 
ably caused by a greater positive state of the heart. The way 
the electricity Hows from the stomach to the more positive parts, 
is shown by the direction of the hair on tha sides. 

The blood, naturally, takes up considerable of the positive 
element and carries it around in the body. Thereby, the ex- 
tremities become positive, especially the upper, and the upper 
part at least, is in the same condition as an inter-elementary 
battery. ( Currents are chiefly along the spine upward and down- 
ward from the stomach, or forward and backward in quadru- 
peds. This may be observed with an astatic pendulum and is 
also indicated by the hair. The hair in the lower part of the 
neck of a person indicates upward currents, before they take 
on interior path inside the general flow that is eddying back 
over the skull. 

There i> a great waste of energy m animal organisms, 

Hy in some of the low t. There is greater waste in 

quadrupeds than in a fish or asnake. Electric currents take a 



straight line, and the backward flow is, to a great extent, lost or 
keeps in growth an appendix, called the tail. In animals, in 
which electromotive force is small, as the elephant and the hog, 
there is less waste. This is also the case with those that 
occasionally walk on two legs, as the bear and the ape. The 
upward current, which is the greater, is, to a great extent, 
switched off on different nerves for use or transformed to be 
stored. 

We see that the animal body is not a battery that is fitted 
to yield very much practical energy directly from the source. 
The elecrric energy has to pass through another process before 
it becomes available. The energy is made effective by the soul 
itself, which has mastery over tba physical laws that govern 
electricity and ethereal matter. That it shall not be thought 
that we arc only grasping after an explanation to help us out, 
we may keep in mind that a person^ soul has such a control 
over ethereal matter outside of his body which has often been 
proven. With a torsion balance, for instance, a person canget 
any result he likes without touching it, if he does not expect a 
result too different from the true one. Neither nerd we worry 
about the lack of insulation around the body. The lines cf 
akasa in the organism arc the natural conductors of electricity 
in the nerves and outside of them, and they furnish also the 
insulation. After all, it seems unreasonable that the food 
should furnish all the energy that is used in an animal; but this 
is because we have no means of taking everything into account. 
As a transformer of electric energy, the animal organism is 
more perfect than any other machine. We may suppose that 
akasa furnishes part of the nerve power and that this source of 
energy is gathered from substances that we take no account of. 
Never, however, must we believe that electricity or a product 
similar to it is not the chief form of energy in the organism, 
whether it manifests itself through the nerves or through akas- 
aic lines outside of the bod v. 



47 

Whatever we may mink of the body as an electric battery, 
both electric elements are needed. The decomposed hydro-car- 
bons produce material which is burned in the lungs where air is 
inhaled. This produces heat which again, produces positive elec- 
tricity by heating the water in the body. Here, we have an 
important source of positive electricity beside that produced by 
digestion and thrown outside of the central charge of the 
stomach. By increasing the rate of respiration to the utmost, 
making it as deep as possible, we may in a minute produce 
such a positive state of the body that a slight anesthesia is ex- 
perienced. This is due to h general neutralization of electricity 
throughout the whole body which gives no definite direction to 
currents, as the blood circulates all around and carries the heat 
or the positive charge with it. If rapid breathing has not this 
effect, the body has been highly negative, or the air has been so. 

One of the causes of sleepiness is the want of positive 
electricity in the body; and that maybe wanting even when the 
body is warm; for it is the heating of something, and not the 
heat, that that produces positive electricity. If we are required 
to be up at night, we can keep wide awake by eating sugar and 
drinking water, as sugar furnishes material for combustion in 
the lungs, and the water is heated. 

Of course, light and heat from the outside, as well as 
atmospheric electricity, may furnish energy to the system or 
counteract the energy used in the body. A working man loses 
strength sooner in a negative atmosphere than in a positive. 
The influence of light may also be modified by the color of the 
skin; but this we can not discuss. 



SECTION IV. 

THE REGULATION OF ENERGY IN THE ORGANISM. 

The ultimate control of all energy in animal bodies is ex- 
ercised by that mysterious thing called consciousness. Physio- 
logy can not be well understood without taking consciousness 
and its manifestations, belief and will, into account. AVe may 
know that a current of electricity is running toward the brain; 
but on what nerves it will be switched off from there is a matter 
of uncertainty on account of the regulating consciousness. The 
seat of plain consciousness is considered to be at the base of the 
brain, or lower, where nerves from all parts of the body meet. 
There are, however, inferior seats of consciousness or of in- 
stinctive controling power both in the medulla oblongata and 
down through the spinal cord. 

We can not understand how consciousness takes place, nor 
how that manifestation of it, called will, can regulate the prac- 
tical actions of the body. Much less do we understand how 
there can be a secondary consciousness or instinct that knows 
what is to be done, and does it, when we are not even aware of 
the fact; but we must point out that such a regulating con- 
sciousness exists. Jt is this secondary consciousness that con- 
trols the energy sent over the nerves, as well as the separation 
and storing of energy. If this were superintended by our 
practical knowledge, we would fare very ill. When it is 
thought that all that takes place according to physical laws, we 
must say that secondary consciousness may prevent the action 
of such laws, if they do exist; hence it has the real control. 

In the regulating action of both plain and secondary con- 
sciousness, there is made use of certain organs in the brain; but 
how they are set into activity is again a mystery. Some be- 
lieve that the organs of will acts as a result of the effects of 
nervous currents, so that, if these currents could be traced and 



40 

the system of conductors were known, \ye would know the re- 
sulting will. It seems, however, as if the relation of causes 
and effects is, is a great extent, nihilated at the point of con- 
sciousness. Not that a resolution or a will is without adequate 
causes; but these must be sought through the whole history of 
the subject as well as in the present. 

The electric currents in the body do not run only through 
nerves. They run through veins and in other places. As they 
start from the battery, it may be put down as certain that the 
chief conductors are not nerves. For normal currents, lines of 
akasa seem always to be the natural conductors. These lines 
may run through nerves, or not. In order that electricity, 
when it is generated by digestion, shall not run at random 
through the body, we should expect an insulating sack of akasa 
around the stomach, which would also serve as the conduit in 
the right direction from there. It is after the electricity has 
reached the switches at the points in the conscious line from the 
brain down through the spine, that the nerves can be used as 
conductors, but the sensory nerves are never used as conduc- 
tors for this electricity. The normal use of energy requires the 
motor nerves as conductors. There are also other applications 
of energy that are natural enough, though they may not be 



normal. 



The regulating organs in the brain are situated under that 
part of the skull or seal]) that is covered by hair. Those organs 
that are situated about the forehead and temples have an in- 
tellectual activity. When a person is, or is about to become, 
active, there is a discharge of current from the controlling 
organs. This may he observed by means of an astatic pendu- 
lum, when a person is lying down. If he moves any limb or 
muscle, there i> one spot where the discharge ceases as long as 
the effort is kepi up. Each limb or set of muscles has its par- 
ticular spot where the discharge is stopped. As a rule, the 
position of the controlling organ is directly opposite to the posi- 



50 

tion or tne limb or muscle controled. The crown correspond?; 
to the feet; the lower part of the back head, to the forehead; 
and the sides of the head, to the sides of the body. 

Secondary consciousness has other actions than that of 
regulating utilized energy. An example of this may be had, 
when a person goes to sleep witli the fixed determination to 
wake at a certain hour. During the sleep, there must then be 
a keeping of time in some w r ay; for a person generally wakes on 
the very minute he intended to do so. 

Secondary consciousness also counteracts disagreeable cur- 
rents of negative electricity, that run in through the body from 
the atmosphere as the effects of drafts, by sending currents 
against them or in other ways. This is kept up until the nui- 
sance ceases or until the regulating consciousness yields. If 
this process of resisting and yielding takes place on two or more 
successive days, the time-keeping tendency of consciousness 
makes it a habit. The feeling of resistance and final breaking 
down occurs regularly at the same time of day that it happened 
before, without any outward reality as cause. It is, evidently, 
in this way intermittent fevers arise. 



SECTION Y. 

THE SENSES. 

Sense impressions are transmitted to the seat of conscious- 
ness by inward currents over the sensory nerves. We have in- 
timated that some sensations are not transmitted to plain con- 
sciousness at once. We can not explain how consciousness 
takes note of the sense impressions; but an inward current on 
the visual nerves often produces the sensation of a spot of light 
and intermittent currents from the ear produce the sensation of 
a sound. 

The brain has also a certain control over the organs of 
sense. During rest they are all positive under normal circum- 
stances which prevents the transmission of sensations. When 
they are to be used, the body is given a more or less wide 
negative margin where the organs are situated. Those persons 
that are least positive and can receive the greatest negative 
margin, are the most sensitive. 

Sight. — Sight and hearing are the most interesting of all 
the sensations, because they can be most easily understood from 
physical laws, excepting the consciousness of the sensations. 
The eye contains a transparent fluid, protected by a tough 
transparent covering without. Behind this is an adjustable 
opening, the pupil, and a concave lense. This part of the eye 
is the focusing apparatus and is equal to a convex and a con- 
cave lense. In the inner part of the eye, at the termination of 
the visual nerves, is a black mass, called the retina, which re- 
ceives the rays admitted. The light admitted to the retina is, 
naturally, converted into electricity and ethereal compounds, 
corresponding to the amount and character of the light at differ- 
ent points in the lighted spot, 

}\o can not say with certainty whether the light itself pro- 
duces an inward current, or not. This is greatly helped, if 



52 

not entirely produced, by regulation in the organism in the ease 
of blue light. The electric state of the eye, when it is active, 
may be ascertained by means of an astatic pendulum and a com- 
paring or testing apparatus, consisting of a metal ball at one 
end of a wire and a metal ring to be laid over the eyelids at 
the other. 

The representation of that which is seen is, without doubt, 
transmitted over the visual nerves by means of what we have 
called figured currents. The figure in the sectional area, we 
may suppose to consist of different ethereal compounds, pro- 
duced in the retina. 

Ocular spectra afford admirable means of studying the be- 
havior of the representations that are presented to the point of 
consciousness of vision, w T hen they are overdone by being pro- 
longed beyond the natural time or made more than naturally 
strong. Ocular spectra are bright changing visions of an ob- 
ject after it has been stared at for some time against a very 
strong light. The effect of keeping a current, conveying a 
very strong image, for a long time is to make the image unfit 
to be recorded in the organs of memory. It is then managed 
in some other way; for a mental image has a reality just as 
much as a painting or a statue. After looking at a bright 
object and then shutting the eyes, the image disappears; but 
soon an image springs up which changes in different colors; 
disappearing now and then. We always find that an ocular 
spectrum, as soon as it emerges from the dark, is blue. 

Hearing is easily understood from the transmission of 
sound by wave motion of electricity or intermittent currents. 
The other senses are more mysterious. The scenting of dogs 
and other animals has been considered the same as smell; but 
it is difficult to believe that it is. 



SECTION VI. 

THE INTELLECTUAL ORGANS. 

The intellectual organs of the brain are situated about 
the forehead and temples, or below that part of the skull that 
is not covered by hair. Some of these have always been con- 
sidered as organs of memory. That memory requires organs is 
quite certain, and there must also be apparatus or receptacles 
where sense impressions are recorded. We advanced the the- 
ory that ocular spectra were caused by the bulkiness of the 
image, whereby they become too coarse to be recorded in the 
delicate and minute receptacles used for that purpose. Anat- 
omy will not reveal any direct signs of such recorded representa- 
tions, and we have to note carefully all outward manifestations. 

When the eye observes an object, there is an outward cur- 
rent to some of the organs in the center of the forehead or in 
the lower part, according to what is observed about the object. 
These currents are discharged into the air and may be easily 
observed. 

We have no reasons for not taking the names, used by 
phrenologists, to designate the different parts of the forehead, 
instead of the divisions of anatomists. We will subdivide them 
into three classes: organs of simple record in the lower part of 
the forehead; organs of comparison in the upper part; and 
organs of harmony about the temples. 

The phrenological names of the organs of simple record 
are: eventuality, individuality, form, size, weight, color, order, 
number, locality, and time, and, besides them, tune and lan- 
guage that are organs for the recording of sound. Number and 
order also belong to tlie groip of organs that record harmony; 
for there is a gradual transition from one class to another. The 
organs for comparison are: comparison (of particulars); causal- 
ity; mirth; imitation; agreeableness; and intuitive knowledge of 



u 

human nature. The uppermost of these are also organs of 
feeling. The organs of harmony are: tune, constructiveness, 
imitation, ideality, and some others. All these organs are 
controled by the controlling organs just above the cerebellum. 

Experiments show that there are also outward currents to 
an organ, when anything is called up from memory. An excel- 
lent device for studying this is the "phrenological cap." This 
may consist of common cloth and fit quite closely. It is 
pierced by pins or rivets whose heads press against the organ. 
To the other end of the rivets are fastened short wires of good 
conductivity that may terminate in a strip of wood, placed 
horizontally. When an organ is active, there is a current over 
the wire that is discharged at the other end, where it may be 
observed. It runs so slowly, however, that it may be doubted 
whether it is common electricity, and the effect of the activity 
of the organ comes afterward. 

It has been noticed that, when a person tries to remember 
how an object moved, or how it changed, the organ of eventu- 
ality is active. It is also active when we imagine motion or 
change. Imagination puts also the organs into activity, and so 
does thinking. 

When we make use of memory, we call up the very same 
images that were once brought before the point of plain con- 
sciousness from without. They are only diminished and faded 
and are. probably, brought up again before a weaker point in the 
conscious line. If we dwell on memory in imagination the 
images again become as bright as before. It is thought that 
imagination can make original images quite easily; but it is not 
easily done if they are wanted very plain; but such plain im- 
agination is also a nuisance and should never be indulged in. 

Thinking is, evidently, a more or less complicated sending 
of ideal representations back and forth between the intellectual 
organs and the consciousness of thought. The memory of 
feelings or, to speak more exactly, the receptacles for rep- 



55 

resentations of them seem to be in other parts of the organism 
than the brain, and their transmission to consciousness .is often 
considerably retarded. 

Thinking consumes just as much electric energy as bodily 
exertion. It will be observed that if a person carries a heavy 
weight, he is tempted to drop it, if he is asked a question that 
he does not even intend to answer. Electric energy is needed 
in intellectual work and, if it is not readily furnished by diges- 
tion, the tissues of the body is consumed to furnish it. 

There is a theory, originated in the Gatta of Goths that 
thinking makes use of thought signs, and not images. These 
are, of course, smaller than many of the recorded images and 
require very little printer's ink, so to speak; but the materiai 
has to be furnished and applied, nevertheless. In making men- 
tal imagery, however, it is quite certain, according to testi- 
mony, that the weak and emaciated make them more faded 
than those that are healthy. Here, we must not confound men- 
tal imagery with hallucinations, which are believed to be trans- 
ferred from others and then taken up before the point of plai n 
consciousness. 



SECTION VII. 

DIGESTION AND REPAIR OF THE ORGANISM. 

Since nerve energy is of so great an importance, it is also 
important to know how it is best furnished. Supply of nerve 
energy and repair of the tissues go together, so we must also 
mention what kind of food is most needed for the repair of the 
body. Much may have been written on food and digestion; 
but the difficulty is that those who best understood the art of 
digestion never write much on any subject, and those who study 
and write much seldom know the art of digestion 

In the selection of food, the main point is to get what is 
needed to build up the tissues, namely hydro-carbons for com- 
bustion in the lungs, and nitrogenous matter for the .repair of 
thetissue. Hydro-carbonaceous matter is nearly always present 
in sufficient amount, while the nitrogenous part is insufficient. 

"Examining- different kinds of nitrogenous food, we find animal flesh 
in a fresh state at the head of the list. It contains exactly the same ele- 
ments as the tissues of the body. The juices contain the mineral salts 
and, if these are extracted by salt, the flesh is less valuable. Next in 
the list we may place eggs; the albumen is nitrogenous and the yolk con- 
tains fat and mineral salts. Milk, when new. ranks very high, the curd 
or casein is nitrogenous, and the cream contains fat. Cheese is not as 
valuable as might be supposed, and gluten in bread is less easily assimi- 
lated than flesh." 

"A meal, taken without disagreeable disturbance of any kind, 
should always produce a calm, content, and good natured feeling-. If it 
does not. the digestion is poor, or the selection of food is not well made; 
for digestion will, generally, be best when nitrogenous and carbonaceous 
foods are present in the right proportion. Poor digestion produces dis- 
content and a dead feeling about the stomach. This is always felt when 
a poor selection is made. If meat alone be eaten, a person will gather con- 
siderable strength from it: but there is a feeling of discontent. The same 
is the case if bread alone be eaten, though in a less degree. A mixture of 
food always produces the b?st results, a:;d the mixture should also be 
regulated by feeling: for that is a better guide than any prescribed rules.'' 

"A meal should be eaten slowly, and, as digestion sets in, a stimulus 
is felt. It is from this time on, that we may have occasion to practice 



the art of digestion nnder the guidance of this pleasurable feeling. If 
the least morsel of any food seems to lower the state of your feeling, do 
not take another of the same kind until you feel different; for a single 
morsel will sometimes neutralize the stimulus instantly, except in those 
whose digestion is insured against anything. Take another kind of food, 
until you think you feel a slight attack of dullness. You may ec.t of the 
former kind of food again. In many places in Europe, it is customary to 
regulate digestion by keeping a cup of coffee by their side and sipping it 
for an hour or so after a meal. It is by such careful observation of the 
dictates of feelings, that a person with a naturally poor digestion can 
learn to digest his food." Anatol Trolladeen. 

It is during sleep, that the tissues are most perfectly repaired. 
There is, then, a general flow of currents outward to the sur- 
face of the body, interrupted at regular intervals, which indica- 
tes that matter is deposited. The currents from the head, how- 
ever, are less easily observed. The repair, without doubt 
goes on all the time, where a person does not work with such 
continuous effort that lie does not rest a minute or so now and 
then. 



SECTION XllL 

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ELECTRIC AND ETHEREAL CONDITIONS 

ON HEALTH 

The natural electrization of an animal body is positive at 
the surface. Negative electricity from without always produces 
a bad effect. A slight chill is felt more in a negative atmos- 
phere than a much lower temperature in a positive one. Nega- 
tive electricity in the animal organism should always start from 
the stomach. On account of the greater fluency of negative 
electricity, it also penetrates the body very easily. 

Natural sources of negative electricity are drafts of cold 
air, especially those that come through small apertures, as they 
are negative in opposition to the warmer air; fog and condensa- 
tion of vapors; a horizontal position of the moon in a moist 
■atmosphere; and decomposition of negative metals. 

The feeling produced by sultry weather is that of negative 
electricity in a warm state of the air. In negative fog, the 
feeling of shivering and chill is replaced by that felt in sultry 
weather, as soon as the sun is high enough to warm it. It has 
been noticed that rheumatism and neuralgia is not produced by 
cold and damp where the air is positive. Positive electricity 
lias always a soothing influence. 

To find out what effect negative electricity has on the or- 
ganism, one may decompose zinc in sulphuric acid; but, as it 
spreads through the air very easily, it ought to be entirely en- 
closed or insulated, with the exception of the conductor. AYe 
would not advise any one to try this more than once, however, 
except he has a very positive body that will neutralize it. The 
effect, when zinc is rapidly decomposed, is first to produce a 
mild tinkling through the arms and then a disagreeable press- 
ure in the region of the heart. Soon, cramp in the fingers may 
also begin. If the experiment be repeated often, a person will 



59 

acquire a habit of shivering and also a pressure at the heart. 

Those who handle type metal a good deal, as in printing 
offices, experience effects of this kind. Their antidote is alco- 
hol. Under the action of decomposing fluids, this is highly 
negative. 



PART V 

AKASA AND AKASAIO ORGANISMS. 

SECTIOX I. 

IDEAS OF AXASA AND THE SOUL. 

Akasa is, generally, considered a part of the soul or that 
form of matter of which the soul consists. In a scientific treat- 
ise on this form of matter, we can not say that it is the soul or a 
part of the soul; for the idea soul has never been defined from 
a material point of view. We have a vague idea that the soul 
is the ultimate life principle of animal organisms; but those who 
have defined the idea or written the most about the soul deny 
that it is material. If it is not matter of some kind, it must be 
only a condition of matter, for nothing exists that is not mat- 
ter or a condition of matter. Those who have written on the 
soul, however, seem to be unwilling to admit that it is either, 
though they say it is something. This want of logic and philo- 
sophical exactness need not bother us much. We only point it 
out. We say that, if the soul exist, it is matter and, presump- 
tively, imponderable matter, or it is a condition of matter. 

Nearly all of the most eager students of psychology show 
very little interest in physical researches on the imponderable 
and more subtle forms of matter and ignore some of the more 
well known physical laws. Psychologists of the liberal kind 
have many theories that are only absurd, because they are at 
variance with well known physical laws. It has been said that 
a person can go into a trance and send his soul to distant 
places, while it is connected to the body only by means of u a 
string of electricity." What it is palpably false here is that it 
is connected to the body in that way; for electricity is not 
strung out for any length of time, except on a surface where 
the electrification were produced in that way. However, we 



61 

can not say tliat there is not a current of electricity between 
the main part of the soul and tlic body, if the soul can leave it 
in that war, which we do not know. What we must say is 
that electricity needs a conductor, and we do not see how 
those easy talkers can find a suitable conductor for an electric 
current through the air, directed, not at random, but so exactly 
that it serves as the connection between the soul on its roving- 
trip and the motionless body. 

We mention all this, only because the ideas of the most 
advanced psychologists are mixed up with false theories like 
this. By *'most advanced psychologists'' we mean those who 
are not fettered by prejudice and take note of all abnormal 
psychic phenomena and combine their study with experiments 
or practice in order to find how they take place step by step. 

In the Gatta of the Goths, a course of psychical research, 
the idea prevailed that no psychical phenomenon can take place 
contrary to the laws of matter. According to that idea the soul 
of one person can not see through the body of another; an 
opaque body can not be transparent. The soul of one person 
may gradually learn to know the condition of the body of an- 
other; and the result may be presented to consciousness in the 
form of a picture of a transparent body. It is also doubtful if 
a person's soul leaves the body and soars over the ground. To 
a person's consciousness it may appear so, especially since a 
new scene appears before our inner eye every time we make a 
halt. But this feeling of roaming around is only a faculty of 
amusing himself which every person possesses to a greater c 
less degree. One thing is very certain; a person's soul, if the 
akasaic organs be the soul, cannot penetrate solid, coherent 
matter as a thick, tight wall; for it finds difficulty in penetrating, 
partially, the clothing on the body, even when this is thin. 
Tl*c lawj of matter arc tin 'undamcntal laws of the soul. 

The dark-skinned races are those who formerly have been 
best acquainted with the secrets of the soul. These people be- 



62 

lieve in the life of the soul after it has left the body; but the 
most of them do not like to bury the body undecomposed, at 
least not in a tight or tightly walled grave. The American 
Indians leave the body on a high scaffolding, until it is de- 
cayed. The Indians proper or the Hindus burn the body. It 
is the belief of some that the soul is so knitted together with 
the organs of the body that it takes time before the soul can 
completely leave it. 

Among all these conflicting ideas of the soul, it is a little 
too bold to give detailed accounts of experiments that are new 
and say that we have experimented on the human soul or th« 
matter of which the soul is made. Almost everybody would be 
against that. The most numerous writers say the soul is not 
material, and the most exact investigators say that there is no 
soul. The best way is to tell systematically what we have 
found, and let people call it something closely connected with 
the soul or a peculiar force acting outside of the nerves. Many 
who have been eager to hnd some signs of the existence of the 
soul or of something that might be looked on as akin to the soul, 
must get rid of the idea, that a thorough knowledge of the 
movements of ethereal matter is useless here. It is by means of 
a thorough knowledge of such currents that we can distinguish 
between ether and akasa. 



SECTION II. 

EXPERIMENTS ON AKASA AND ETHEREAL CLOUDS. 

When we undertake various experiments on currents or 
movements of ethereal matter in the atmosphere, we notice 
something that will be considered either as "nothing" or as ethe- 
real matter of a non-fluid consistency. There are spots where an 
astatic pendulum will not only not have any definite direction 
of motion for want of any current to act upon it; but it is held 
still by a certain force, which must be due to something. We 
have called these phenomena ethereal clouds and ethereal com- 
pounds of a non-fluid consistency. If we are wrong, we do 
not like to have any one tell us so; for those who would con- 
tradict this, would naturally be somethat knew nothing about it. 
Now, these ethereal eloude can be neutralized by other ethereal 
clouds or by friction of something and by heat and light. This 
seems to prove that the blank spots in the atmosphere are 
something. 

This something may be quite general throughout the at- 
mosphere at times, as in cold and sultry weather. Currents of 
this matter are never found, except when there are general 
electric currents through the atmosphere in a certain direction. 
Then the supposed non-fluid matter is set adrift, and is notice- 
able by its violent action on the pendulum that indicates it. 

Where this non-fluid matter occupies a small space, an 
electric or ethereal current passes through it and may be de- 
tected on both sides of it. Spheres of such matter are always 
formed around an object that is solidifying oris taking up mat- 
ter infused into it as in growth, tfec. It has been often said 
that everything has a soul from the broken fragment of a stone 
to the crystal; but these coarse spheres can not be the souls of 
these objects for tl ley disappear, when the object is not in a 
process of growing or solidifying, except they should sink to- 



61 

gether into the interior of the objects to which tliey belong. 
However, all objects have a considerable sphere around them, 
throughout which they have a varied influence. These spheres 
can not be detected by anything but their effects, and we would 
be more inclined to call them the souls of the inanimate bodies. 
That the coarser spheres sink into the interior of matter when 
this is in a normal and finished condition seems to be beyond 
doubt. It may be called out again, though irregularly, by 
rubbing. This process produces electricity and a streak of a 
coarser material phenomenon that wavers back and forth and is 
not yet distinguished from the akasa produced by an animal 
body. There is, in the language of the Gattaists, an al-ak te re. 

If we stroke a surface with the hand back and forth once, 
there is left a streak of akasa that oscillates back and forth the 
same way it was stroked. If the stroking was entirely or prin- 
cipally in one direction, the line of akasa keeps moving or run- 
ning in that direction. If there are currents of electricity or 
ether in the atmosphere, the akasaic line w T ill drift slowly along 
with them and can be detected in the air at different points of 
its course. However, it reappers on the stroked surface now 
and then, rising up from the interior of the substance, but only 
to drift away again. If a friction of metal takes place near a 
stroked line, the line of akasa is disturbed or forced out of place, 
at least at the point nearest to the disturbance. If volatile sub- 
stances be brought near, or even oil when agitated or rubbed, 
they will have the same effect. 

When there is no disturbance of any kind around, and the 
air is clear, mild, and calm, a long strip of wood, free from 
metal and oil spots, may be stroked, a person may touch differ- 
ent points on that line, and those points can be detected by 
means of an astatic pendulum. If the akasaic line is touched 
in one place only, there is no difficulty in finding it, as an 
astatic pendulum oscillates back and forth over the line, but 
suddenly hangs still when brought over the touched point. As 



65 

the akasaic lines are sometimes "dead" and sometimes oscilla- 

tiirg, the pendulum will begin to oscillate over the touched 

point, if it were hanging still before. The touching of such 

lines of akasa brings to light many curiosities which we cannot 

mention here. 

"In a place where several people frequently gather, as in a school 
house, there may be a considerable charge of akasa extending outside of 
the house. Such charges Lave radiations from it extending in all direc- 
tions with uniform distances between each arm. When not disturbed, 
these arms are quite durable. It is a laborious task, however, to find 
them. It may be remarked that })ersons of quiet j^hlegmatie habits have 
such charges of akasa around their abodes. Such a system of akasaic 
lines seems to have been called fram or brum lines in the Gatta of Goths. 
Others, however, insist that the ri;rht name is am and that fram is a 
strong line in one direction. Anatol Trolladeen. 



SECTION III. 

THE TENDENCY OF AKASA TO BECOME ORGANIC. 

We notice that charges of akasa stretch out arms in all 

directions which have considerable permanence. If such a 

charge be developed around the dwelling place of a person it 

remains after he leaves the place. If the akasaic organism in 

a person's body be the soul, this charge is a soul without a 

body, a soul that has reached nirvana. The akasaic organism in 

the body of a person is a system stretching out arms in all 

directions from the spinal column; and secondary radiations of 

smaller extent from the various nerve centers that are more or 

less controlable by a person's will. 

"We can not look on such developments (charges of akasa) simply 
as a growth but as an organ used for some purpose, the means of trans- 
mitting ideas from soul to soul. Piegmatic persons who take everything 
so cool, are always on the safe side; for they act as if they did know the 
facts in every case all around, even if it is not in their primary con- 
sciousness. It is around them the fram lines are developed so that they 
can not be detected. In other cases they can not be detected, though 
they, no doubt, exist, as surely as we expect to find them in the sphere 
of influence of an inanimate body." Anatol Trolladeen. 

Akasa may be found everywhere throughout space; but 
we know nothing about it. It is quite certain that we find it 
developed in greatest abundance where there is considerable 
moisture. We have heard that when two snails are kept near 
together for some time and then taken a distance apart, they 
will both act alike, move in the same directions, &c. We do not 
know if this is so; but the story shows that people have noticed 
something about moist animals before, and probably, wanted 
to transmit their knowledge to posterity in a set story. It is 
also interesting to read the account of the liberated souls or 
spirits who move through dry places and then try to take pos- 
session of a person's body, making a maniac of the same ac- 
cording to old ideas. We may also note a very wide-spread 



67 

idea that it is well for maniacs to take baths very often. 

Anatol Trollacleen in his novel "From India to Mars" 
makes a Buddhist priest say: "Do you know that a line of 
akasa has the faculty of locomotion?" Those who experiment 
on akasa and study psychology by taking it into account get 
that impression; but it is difficult to prove it. 

When the amoeba prineeps, a jelly-like lump developed in 
water, is believed to nave a spontaneously generated life, this 
is concurred in quite readily by those who have studied akasa; 
for akasa develops an apparent life; and there is no life with- 
out an akasaic system of organs, and some of these seem to 
act so independently of the main consciousness at times, that 
a person, for instance, appears to be a complete double-being, 
both parts endowed with reason. 



SECTION IV. 

GUSHES OF AKASA FROM ANIMAL ORGANISMS. 

It is said by some that they can feel, at times, a peculiar 
stirring sensation when a person in the vicinity is angry, even 
when they do not see him, or he makes no demonstration. It 
is not easy to make some people believe that something that 
they can not see or feel does exist. As a general tiling we can 
not see or feel akasa; but movements of it may be detected by 
an astatic pendulum. 

If a person stands on one side of a room and has his whole 
attention turned to some point on the opposite wall, there will 
be a strong current from his fa:-e to that point which will last 
for a short time and will be indicated by an astatic pendulum 
placed in its path. When the current ceases, there is a dead 
quiet in .the line of the current; but on all sides there is a back- 
ward How of the same depth as the diameter of the central cur- 
rent. If the person takes his attention away from that point 
or thinks of it no longer with any interest, the backward flow 
on the outside ceases, and the central current flows back, that 
is, it seems to sink back into tlu body. This movement of 
akasa can be detected in all conditions of the atmosphere, 
where no other experiments with pendulums are possible. When 
electric currents in the atmosphere are general and very strong, 
the movement of akasa may bj di iturbed at certaifl moments; 
but, as a general thing, the movement of akasa does not yield. 

Where this phenomenon i 3 known, tli3 young people de- 
tect such movements of akasa by holding a pendulum in the 
hand quite carelessly, while the person who is to force a line ot 
akasa to a distance is placed behind a veil so his face can not 
be seen, as the direction might be guessed from its expression. 
He is generally given three or four points to choose between, 
and search is made only in those lines; for rapidity is necessary. 



69 

as the person behind the veii may have to strain his mesmeric 
faculties. These experiments have not yet been known to fail. 

It is not possible to force akasa through a tight cloth or a 
sheet of metal. Movements of akasa are always noticed, 
when a person is interested in an object near, or when lie mes- 
merizes another. 

The akasa that proceeds from the body very often goes to 
a certain point where it terminates in a dead quiet where pendu- 
lum experiments are impossible. Many who try such experi- 
ments make th?m impossible by their own interest or anxiety. 
If several interested persons came together to witness such 
pendulum experiments they are simply made impossible. They 
have to be looked at carelessly or looked at as little as possible. 
We have to say this here; for it is seldom we can say it. AVe 
have to shake our head and point to the sky. It must not be 
believed that sight does it; it is the interest that is felt. We 
must not listen to it with interest; for that would have the same 
effect. 

All the different radiations of akasa from the body, are 
not controled alike by will. Some are probably not eontroled 
by conscious will. This seems to be the case with the lines 
that extend directly from the spine or neck as well as from the 
throat and upper forehead. It appears clso in some places 
where akasa is forced out by long continued willing, it finally 
obeys, but is out for a long time contrary to will. 

The use of the regular lines of akasa from the body is. 
without doubt, the transference of ideas from both secondary 
and primary consciousness to the minds of others. As organs 
of the mind we must consider the conscious line through the 
spinal cord with its arms of akasa. There are different degrees 
of clear consciousness from the base of the brain downward. 
Ideas transferred to certain points of consciousness are hardly 
known; but they are acted out. This is found by experiment; 
for many mesmerists do not affect others by a blind force of 



their miod, bttt by transferring to them a list of instructions 
that are acted sure enough and are not known otherwise. This 
is what was called witchcraft formerly and does not so act im- 
mediately as common mesmerism, neither does it bring a per- 
son into an abnormal position. 

While transference of ideas is the most common use of 
the arms of akasa, they are also used for direct and original 
observation of some kind. We do not know if we can call it 
sight; it may be. Clairvoyance, in the sense that a person's 
soul can see through anything, opaque bodies or transparent 
ones, never exists. What is called clairvoyance is the gather- 
ing of transferred knowledge and knowledge due to second 
sight in regard to something. One can never see through a 

O ' © © © 

person's body as some impostors make believe. Second sight 
is a laborious examination of an object by piecemeal and never 
figures greatly in the remarkable feats of the soul. Clairaudi- 
ence is a reproduction in sound signs of transferred ideas. 
One can never hear, what can not be heard by the ear. The 
fancied sound is an hallucination invented by the soul and may 
be more important than if it were v^fae-simile of some talk. 

Some people feel the presence of certain metals intuitively; 
others do not feel them, but will find them easily by means of 
a twig, &c. All this is due to second feeling or sight. 

With the idea that thoughts are transferred from one to 
another without their knowledge, and that they are acted out 
blindly, we see no difficulty in defending the theory of pre- 
destination and fate in the chief events of history. The minor 
events are predistined at least a minute before they occur; but 
some are destined to take place months, and others years, be- 
fore the time of occurrence has come. 



SECTION V. 

THE ACTION OF AKASAIG LINES OUTSIDE CF THE ORGANISM. 

We have mentioned before that the lines of akasa have an 
effect on ethereal matter outside of the body. Tins effect con- 
sists in the production of movements, either currents or to and 
fro movements of ethereal matter or akasa. There may also 
be produced a condition similar to * -ethereal clouds." All this 
can be produced at will, but these conditions are also produced 
by a person without his will and knowledge. 

On a table, the currents of electricity in the atmosphere 
may be examined by some person. If you will and imagine 
that there are currents over the table from north to south, the 
experimenter will find it that way even with the most perfect 
instrument. If you will that the '"currents" change, the in- 
strument indicates the change. These currents, or oscillations 
which they really are, are produced at the end of a line of 
akasa from the person who lias his mind directed to a certain 
point. At the termination of the line of akasa, there may be 
produced vortices, -dead spaces/* and * -currents. " The reader 
will readily understand that it is possible for a person to falsify 
the indication of an astatic pendulum instrument any time 
without b^ing detected. An astatic pendulum is not reliable, 
except people arc away from it and its indications are registered. 

Great mistakes have been made by some on this account. 
Foucault found that a swinging pendulum with a fixed support 
turned or changed oscillation from north and south to west 
and east in 6 hours near the north pole, or turned around com- 
pletely in 24 hours, while in South America it lost time in some 
way, it is immaterial which way; for the experimenter got re- 
sults as lie needed them, as he was always near anxiously 
watching his pendulum. 

As the soul has a secondary consciousness, holding facts 



72 

gathered by the akasaic organs of the body, we are not led 
astray very much by the false currents produced by the fancy of 
a person. "Where there is no determined will to deceive, these 
currents represent a fact in nature, known only to the soul. 
The currents themselves, however, may be false, or they may 
be greatly fortified, while the natural ones can not be noticed. 

Many pendulum experiments are of the same kind as that 
of Foucault. There is truth below somewhere, but not always 
in the experiment itself. "We do not know what to say about 
the detection of the age of an organic substance. If a cube of 
wood be examined, it is found to have a sphere around it in 
which there are currents to or from the wood. If we touch 
the cube of wood lightly with a small stick, the sphere is found 
to shrink for every stroke or touch. It has sunk entirely into 
the wood, when the wood has been touched as many times as 
the age of the wood has years. This is true in a clear, mild 
and calm atmosphere. In some conditions of the atmosphere 
it has to be touched more times, and sometimes the sphere dis- 
appears with fewer touches. There may be some connection 
between the age of, and the sphere around, a substance; but 
the phenomenon may also be produced by the akasaic organs 
of the experimenter whose soul lias perceived in the structure of 
the substance its real age. 

Communication with the surrounding world is so necessary 
for the well-being of mankind that it takes place through con- 
siderable distances, as is brought to light by certain experi- 
ments. The communication, in this case, is not of a lengthy 
kind, but short and often repeated, as we may suppose. In 
this case, we suppose that the communication takes place by 
means of vibrations through the cosmic ether. There is no 
special line of communication, but the message is sent in the 
right direction and repeated. Instinct dictates the vibrations 
to be sent, and it is brought to secondary consciousness only 
in a general way. When a person is in distress, another per- 



son may get a vague idea about it at the same time at quite a 
distance. Fear is always necessary to produce such signals. 
Under other circumstances, each person is supposed to transmit 
his fundamental ideas around indefinitely, and many feol con- 
demned if their ideas are different from those around, even if 
they have heard nothing about them. The Gattaists call this 
oming, while the sending of a message in one direction is 
called aiming \ 

"Conservative people are generally om people. They are 
generally short, thick and solid-built. These people can not 
hold a new idea alone. They feel condemned and despised. 
To make a proselyte of such a person, it is not necessary to 
talk much; but go around in his neighborhood and imagine 
how you would talk to him. and how he would acquiesce. You 
must do this all around him, though not in every house; but 
you must imagine that his worst enemies are against/' Anatol 
Trolladeen. 

The Gattaists also speak of ang, an echo in one place of 
ideas in another. According to them, Christianity furnishes 
means of maintaining aug between Europe and Africa, besides 
being the staff on which the christian leans through the valley 
of the shadow of death. k -He had to be put to death for our 
sake" is the idea in Europe. ' -Tie has to be killed for the safety 
of others" say the Africans, and they kill a man or woman 
every day. The Gattaists believe that the wdiolesale killing 
would not go on, if it were not for the ang with Europe which 
makes them feel as if it were necessary and quite innocent. 

The Gattaists call the distance that oraing lias any visible 
effect the rah or rok. Senlac in South Brittain, according to 
them, was the rak (reach) of oming from the Seine. Tt should 
be Sen rak. Thick /, like thick /\ was used in North Gaul and 
South Brittain. 



SECTION VI. 

THE CONTROLING ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND SUPPOSED ORGANS 

OF RECORD. 

We have said that consciousness controls the action of the 
nerves by means of organs. The seat of the organs are, in 
the human species, covered by hair. During activity there is 
a constant escape of electricity through the hairs of the head; 
but from the special controlling organ that does service at any 
time, the flow is stopped. It is readily supposed that the con- 
trolling organ turns part of the current from the stomach back 
over the nerves; but how it is done we can not say. 

If we stretch a band 2 or 3 inches wide over the head 
from the neck to the forehead, we cover a set of organs that 
control the anterior and posterior part of the body all around. 
The lower part of the back of the head controls the upper part 
of the forehead. Those groups that are higher control respec- 
tively the different parts of the face. Those still higher contro 1 
the front of the body. The highest part in front of the vortex 
controls the feet, &c. The organs on the sides of the head are 
in connection with the opposite sides of the body. 

It is well known that different groups of these organs are 
named by phrenologists as the organs of certain moral facul- 
ties or certain instincts. It seems to be entirely wrong to 
speak about organs of feelings, as pity. An organ is an instru- 
ment for working. "Organ" and "working" have the same 
origin. It is quite sure, however, that a great development of 
the different controlling organs indicate a corresponding de- 
velopment in certain feelings and propensities. What the 
phrenologists call ^firmness" controls the feet and legs. It is 
natural that one who can stand firmly on his feet, is firm in 
other things. 

As there are two kinds of consciousness, a primary and a 



secondary, so there are recording organs for both kinds; at 
least our reason expects that there should be. Some psycho- 
logists hold that there are recording organs all through the 
body, which record facts in regard to the secondary action of 
the soul and also serve as organs for the preservation of prenatal 
knowledge. , 




Representation of the invisible spectrum, showing the ex- 
tent to which the air is electrified opposite each of the elements: 
the streaked regions are negative; the blank, positive. 



/ 






....,•" 



/ 



Representation of a positive electrosphere, showing the 
periphery of its cylinder and the axis of rotation. 




A negative electrosphere without its cylinder. 



The following works are now ready for the pres 

REPORT OF THE GATTA CFTHE GOTHS 

By Anatol Trolladeen. Illustrated. 

This work is simply unique. It is the result of a re- 
search of an uncommon kind. The work contains nothing but 
notes written in a hypnotic or a half-hypnotic state by a party 
of men interested in psychology and history, except that the 
author has furnished the connecting links between the different 
notes or has given the general gist of theni only where they have 
been t<»o faulty in grammatical respects. This is a treatise on 
the secrets of psychology, and yet all throught it treats of his- 
tory or, rather, of prehistoric times. The notes all through 
the book uphold the theory that a person has a knowledge of 
prenatal events which is only in his secondary consciousness, 
ami that intinct in animals is such an inborn or prenatal knowl- 
edge. The work shows that humanity has a mental language 
of which they hare only a secondary consciouness. This is 
evidently the foreign tongues spoken of by Paul. Some notes 
are too i transcendent" for some readers; but they have made 
them>eives, so to speak, and nobody is to blame. 

It is with exceeding pleasure that we read of the specu- 
lations in prehistoric times, be it truth or fiction. Yet the as- 
sertions in tins work are bold, and there are ideas that have 
scarcely entered the minds of men before. For this reason, the 
author and his companions did not have the courage to publish 
tin's w<.rk or to be known a> the authors of it. It is at consid- 
erable expense that X. Kolkin has made it his property, 
FROM INDIA TO MARS By Anatol Trolladeen. Dins- 

trafc 

Tin- i> a novel in the Jules Verne style. In this novel 
a Frenchmen i- made the inventor cf the astatic pendulum elec- 
troscope, and one of the characters in the novel make- practical 
use of tin'-, thereby accomplishing what would otherwise be 
impossibilities. 

Jjook out for these Books and ash your 
bookseller for them. 



ELECTRICITY 

AS A FORM OF ETHEREAL MATTER 



-BY- 



IST. KGLKIN. 



This work, of which "Ethereal Matter, Electricity, and 
Akasa*' is an extract, was advertised and was intend to be pub- 
lished as early as 1887 by Fames & Rothie, of Minneapolis. 
As Mr. Fames suddenly died and there was no written agree- 
ment with the firm, nothing more than the advertising was 
done. Generally, the different theories in this work are based 
chiefly on experiments with astatic pendulums which have been 
carried on by the author for several years. The results 
of the experiments have been communicated to tire Internation- 
al Society of Electricious at Paris (see the bulletin of the socie- 
ty for 1885), and some of the experiments were explained in 
papers presented to the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences 
at Minneapolis in 1886. Mr. Kolkin is also the real inventor 
of the astatic pendulum electroscope, though the peculiarities of 
such pendulums have been discovered by many others. 

The work contains several chapters on each of the fol- 
lowing subjects: Conservation of energy, fixed electric cur- 
rents and charges, the laws of fluids, magnetism, astronomy, 
and ethereal currents in vegetables. All subjects are treated 
of more fully than in the extract made from it. 

The delay in publishing this work is due to the import- 
ant fact that several parts of it are based on experiments, the 
correctness of which it is desirable to prove beyond the possi- 
blity of cavil beforehand. 

The work will contain numerous illustrations and con- 
sist of about 300 pages. It will be published as soon as possi- 
ble. 



